Sometimes a big component of a family session is getting the kids warmed up. One of my frustrations when I was a client myself was how rushed it felt for us when our photographer was more concerned about producing as many images as fast as possible then running us off. As an adult, that's fine to tell me to smile wider or look this way or that, but for my child? Umm, good luck getting a toddler to follow directions!

My son is a sweet, shy little guy who absolutely needs some time to warm up to someone. I tried several times when my son was tiny to get the perfect family photo that I could be in, since usually I'm the one with the camera, but it never 'clicked' for us, if you'll excuse the pun. Without fail, each time we wound up with a lot of pictures, but the VAST majority were blank stares, tears, and drool...and that was just from my husband (I kid, I kid!).

As a parent first and photographer second, I know how vital it is to get your little ones comfortable before this stranger with a big camera starts snapping away. I like to check in with the kids before we begin to see how they're feeling, or if they're too young to talk, then just to play and maybe get a smile or two before the camera comes out.

I believe in taking our time to get it right, not rushed like a 15-minute mini session or a quick appointment at the mall studio. I can speak from experience that yes, you can get a lot of photos, but if your family doesn't look their best or have good facial expressions, is it worth it?

I just ran across our images from a session when my son was a year old and I did buy prints for posterity's sake but none of them are on display in our house because we just don't enjoy the photos. That's what I want to help families achieve - pictures that don't just sit in the bottom of a filing cabinet. We all want beautiful photographs to share and enjoy.

This picture is a little girl who was very wary of me. Her mom clued me in beforehand that she may be a tough cookie, so I spent extra time just letting her warm up to me. Pretty soon we were getting happy expressions like this - how sweet is this child?! I love that joy on her face.

"Lisa was able to capture gorgeous photos of my girls! They can be shy at times but she was able to get them to open up and get some great pictures. Lisa was professional, sweet and super easy to work with. I would highly recommend her services!!" --Alaina J.